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By Michael Allen on March 15, 2010
Tuesday, March 16 – 10:00 am to 11:30 a.m. Disappearing God Gap: Religion’s Role in the 2008 Presidential Elections and Beyond – The Brookings Institution, Saul/Zilkha Rooms, 1775 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC – In a new book by religion and politics experts Corwin Smidt and Kevin den Dulk, The Disappearing God Gap? (Oxford University [read full story]
Posted in Africa, Analysis, Asia, China, Democracy assistance, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Elections, Eurasia, Europe, Events, Fragile States, Global, Human rights, Iran, Iraq, Islam and democracy, Islam/politics, Latin America and the Carribean, Middle East and North Africa, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, Pakistan, Regions, Religion and Democracy, Russia, Ukraine, Women, Zimbabwe, accountability, authoritarianism, autocrats, color revolutions, democracy, democracy and development, democracy promotion, democracy support, democratic reform, democratization, dictatorships, dissidents, economic crisis, emerging democracies, foreign policy, freedom of expression, governance, legislatures, media, promoting democracy, religious freedom, rule of law, sanctions, solidarity | Tagged Analyzing the Political Elite of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Democracy in Ukraine, Freedom House, Governance in the West Bank, Internet freedom, Islamism and Neo-secularism, Michael Posner, Obama Administration’s Russia Policy, Politics, post-Orange Revolution transition, radicalization, Russian Anti-Americanism, Security and Human Rights in the North Caucasus, Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, Transparency, Why There Is No ‘European Islam’, Zimbabwe |
By Michael Allen on March 12, 2010
“As a human rights defender, I am hoping that the Zimbabwean Government will learn …., that it is not proper for a citizen to be abducted, tortured, and kept incommunicado for weeks on end without being tried,” said Jestina Mukoko yesterday. The executive director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, a grantee of the National Endowment [read full story]
Posted in Africa, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, Zimbabwe, accountability, democracy support, dissidents |
By Michael Allen on March 10, 2010
The trial of Hissène Habré, Chad’s former dictator, will be “the first trial by the courts of one country against the former head of state of another,” writes human rights lawyer Reed Brody – if it takes place.
Twenty years ago, Souleymane Guengueng watched hundreds of his fellow inmates in Chad’s notorious jails die from torture [read full story]
Posted in Africa, Chad, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, autocrats, dictatorships, rule of law |
By Michael Allen on March 9, 2010
As elections loom, Ethiopia appears to be a relatively stable, prosperous nation in a turbulent neighborhood, writes Lauren Gelfand – “a bulwark against increasingly isolated and sanctioned Eritrea and a comparative oasis of calm compared to perennially chaotic Somalia.”
But human rights and democracy advocates experience one of the continent’s most repressive regimes. After the 2005 [read full story]
Posted in Africa, Ethiopia, Featured, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society, autocrats, democracy, democratization |
By Michael Allen on March 5, 2010
A North Korean factory worker was publicly executed by firing squad this week after conveying news out of the secretive communist state via his illicit cell phone, Associated Press reports:
The man, surnamed Chong, made calls to the defector using an illegal Chinese mobile phone, the broadcaster said, citing a North Korean security agency official it [read full story]
Posted in Closed societies, Democracy assistance, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, Tools/technology, communist regimes, freedom of expression, media, north korea |
By Michael Allen on March 1, 2010
As evidence emerges of Venezuela’s collusion with terrorist groups plotting to kill Colombia’s president, the documented erosion of the country’s democracy, the arrival of a leading apparatchik from Havana, are raising concerns about the country’s authoritarian trajectory.
Spain’s High Court today accused the Chávista regime of aiding Basque Eta rebels and the Colombian Farc in planning [read full story]
Posted in Featured, Human rights, Labour/labor unions, Latin America and the Carribean, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, Venezuela, authoritarianism, dissidents, media, populism |
By Michael Allen on February 26, 2010
This week’s meeting of African democracy advocates in Pretoria ended on a high when South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma signed the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance.
Only four states – Mauritania, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Burkina-Faso – have ratified since it was adopted by the African Union in January 2007.
The fragility of African [read full story]
Posted in Ethiopia, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society, autocrats, democracy promotion, democratic reform, freedom of expression, governance, promoting democracy |
By Michael Allen on February 25, 2010
After the death of a prominent dissident prompted international outrage, Cuba’s communist authorities have reacted with a crackdown on the island’s democracy advocates.
Political leaders and human rights groups deplored the passing of Orlando Zapata Tamayo and called on Havana to release political prisoners still in detention.
To forestall public protests at Zapata’s funeral, security services [read full story]
Posted in Cuba, Featured, Human rights, Latin America and the Carribean, communist regimes, democracy, dissidents, promoting democracy |
By Web on February 23, 2010
Wednesday, February 24 – Saturday, February 27 – “Voices from Afghanistan” Exhibit – Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. SE – On February 24, a new exhibit at the Library of Congress will display some of the thousands of hand-painted scrolls and letters received by Radio Azadi, RFE/RL’s popular Afghan radio station. [read full story]
Posted in Afghanistan, Democracy assistance, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Elections, Failed states, Fragile States, Haiti, Human rights, Iraq, Islam and democracy, Islam/politics, Kenya, Labour/labor unions, Middle East and North Africa, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, Regions, Transparency, Women, authoritarianism, corruption, democracy, democracy and development, democracy promotion, democracy support, democratic reform, democratization, dissidents, engagement, foreign policy, freedom of expression, governance, media, promoting democracy, protests, rule of law, solidarity | Tagged and Google, Broadcasting in UN Blue, Center for International Media Assistance, Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, china, counter-extremism, Democracy & Democracy Promotion, Democracy Promotion in the Muslim World, democratic governance, Geneva Summit for Human Rights, International Labour Organization, Iraqi Elections, Islam and Religious Freedom, Lech Walesa, National Endowment for Democracy, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow, Rethinking Human Development, Role of the U.S. in Encouraging Pro-Democracy Movements, Tariq Ramadan, the Internet, Vaclav Havel, Violence against Women, Voices from Afghanistan, Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa |
By Michael Allen on February 22, 2010
Concern is growing over the deteriorating condition of Cuban prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo:
After 75 days on hunger strike, Tamayo has been transferred to a prison hospital in Havana due to his “grave condition,” a dissident group reports. Elizardo Sanchez, chairman of the unofficial Cuban Human Rights Commission, said Zapata’s family confirmed the transfer [read full story]
Posted in Cuba, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society, communist regimes, dissidents |
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